Assaraya Alhmara Museum, Tripoli, Libya - Assaraya Alhamra, "The Red Castle" or "The Red Fort" was painted red after the Spanish invasions in 1510 AD. Digging along an adjacent road revealed that the fort was built on top of an ancient Roman fortified camp. The building was established by the Phoenicians, who later abandoned the city after they established the nearby Carthage. A road once passed through the castle and was adorned with statues on both sides, which gave the museum an unique outdoor department. The castle was built to defend the city, it continued to be the centre of Tripoli's power right up to the 20th century. After the Romans' descendants' return in 1911, the Italian converted a section of the castle, that was originally used as an ammunition storehouse, into Libya's first museum in 1919, to house some of the countless archaeological artifacts scattered across Libya since prehistoric times. By 1930s, it was named the Classical Museum - in reference to the classical Greco-Roman period. After the British occupied Libya during the Second War, the museum grew to occupy the entire complex and became known as The Libyan Museum in 1948, with the four wings: Prehistory - Ancient Libyan Tribes (the Berbers: Garamentes, Tuareg, etc.) - Libyan-Punic-Greco-Roman-Byzantine Traditions - Natural History After Gaddafi's September Revolution, in 1969, a new wing was added, The People's Era Wing, to document the Libyan struggle for independence. and then later a war museum, known as The Conflict Museum. In 1982, in a joint venture with the UNISCO, the museum was further developed to its current state and became known as Assaraya Alhmara museum, which reopened its doors to the public in 1988. The museum occupies 10,000 square meters and is widely recognised as one of the most important and richest museums in the world; owing to its unique collection of original items spanning all periods of human's civilisation on this planet, right from the stone age and the prehistoric civilisations of the great Sahara desert to the medieval periods and the present day. Libya is rich in archaeology, with most of its prehistoric secrets still buried under the desert's sand and beneath the sea's water, for future generations to rediscover and bring to life once more. Unravel Travel TV http://www.unraveltravel.eu Unravel Travel TV Twitter http://www.twitter.com/UnravelTravelTV Unravel Travel TV http://www.youtube.com/UnravelTravelTV Filmed June 2010 shows Turkish citadel set inside the National Museum, Tripoli medina, the triumphal arch of Marcus Aurelius in Roman times Oei and around the Green Square /Martyr's Square in the capital of Libya. Tour Pperator - BP Triad

• published: 23 Aug 2011
• views: 916